When Today Ends, Tomorrow Will Be Better
by TeamImprov
Summary: A mission ends badly with everyone on the team injured except Mac. But when are they ever that lucky…


Summary: A mission ends badly with everyone on the team injured except Mac. But when are they ever that lucky…

**When Today Ends, Tomorrow Will Be Better**

"My head feels like's it going to explode," Bozer groaned as Jack took a corner a little too fast, sending everyone jerking sideways in their seats. They had stolen a minivan that was just about as beat up as they were and almost to their Exfil coordinates but Jack couldn't get there soon enough.

The mission had gone sideways quick, as they all tended to do, but this one left them all little worse for wear.

Jack was driving; sporting a bullet wound to the upper arm and had another in his thigh, and probably shouldn't be the one behind the wheel. Bozer was leaning his head against the window in the middle row; trying not to ralph all over the place because of a severe concussion, and Mac was in the back row trying to staunch the bleeding from a bad bullet graze in Riley's side. The only one who seemed to have come out of the mission unscathed was Mac, which hardly ever happened.

"If he pukes I'm taking a cab." Riley said, wincing when Mac pressed a little harder into her still bleeding side.

"Sorry," Mac apologized softly, frowning at his bloodstained hands.

"Nobody's puking," Jack said, his eyes frantically searching behind them for any sign they were being followed. "I am not paying for that detailing job, you hear me?"

"I think you're already going to have to pay for a detail job, Jack, I don't know if you noticed but everyone is currently bleeding all over the place." Riley said, groaning when the van went over yet another pothole. The road was riddled with them.

"Everyone except Mac," Bozer said. "How did you get out of there without a scratch?"

"Just got lucky, I guess." Mac said with a slight shrug.

"At least we have someone here to patch us up," Riley said and Mac gave her a small smile. He hated having his friend's blood on his hands. That was so not the way he wanted to end an otherwise successful mission.

Mac checked Riley's wound and sighed in relief when he saw that the bleeding had mostly stopped. Her hands were balled into fists on top of her thighs and Mac pulled one over to her side, directing her to keep up the pressure.

"Don't let up on that." He told her.

"I won't." Riley promised with a quick nod. He rubbed his hand along her upper arm comfortingly before wiggling his way into the middle seats. He sat as well as he could in front of Bozer and lifted the torn piece of shirt he was holding against the cut running along his temple. Mac sucked in a breath when Jack made another sharp turn and they were jostled. The wound was deep; it was definitely going to need stitches and would probably leave a scar.

"Keep holding that there." Mac instructed. "Just stay awake and you'll be fine, buddy."

"My brain is currently trying to escape out of my eyeballs, Mac." Bozer complained. "It doesn't feel fine."

"I know, man, we'll be at Exfil soon and I promise you will feel better." Mac said, checking Bozer's pupil sizes. They were a little uneven but not as bad as it could have been. Mac felt kind of guilty, he had smacked his head on the concrete ground when Mac had tackled him out of the way of a stray bullet. Luckily, he had been fast enough to stop his best friend from getting shot in the back. He just wished he could have spared him the headache.

"Thanks for knocking me out of the way." Bozer said, leaning his head back against the headrest and closing his eyes. "I didn't even see the shooter and I'm just glad we're both okay."

"Me too, Boz." Mac said, patting Bozer on the knee once before making his way up to the passenger seat.

"That doesn't look good." Mac commented when he got a better look at Jack's leg wound. The round to the arm merely scratched him but the bullet in his thigh had gone straight through and was bleeding enough for the blood to have coated the entire top of Jack's thigh down to his knee. At least they didn't have to worry about the bullet still being in there but they had to do something about the blood loss.

Mac pulled the rest of the shirt they had found in the back of the van, which he had used to bandage everyone up, out of his pocket and ripped it into thirds. He quickly wrapped one around Jack's arm and then pressed the second against the wound before maneuvering the third strip under Jack's leg and tying it tight. Mac winced in sympathy when Jack hissed in pain. It wasn't enough, though. Blood was still leaking out from under the bandage.

"How are you feeling?" He asked Jack whose face had paled a couple of shades since the whole fiasco began.

"Well enough to get us there," Jack said, not taking his eyes off the road, his face a mask of determination.

"I've gotta find something to help stop the bleeding more," Mac said mostly to himself. He looked around, trying to find something he could use. He popped open the glove compartment and smiled when he saw that the owners of their current transport kept the kind of tire pressure gauge that looked like a long, metal pencil. That would do. He put the metal gauge through the tied bandage and hesitated.

"This is gonna suck." Mac warned the older man.

Jack simply clenched his jaw and winked. "It already sucks, homie."

Mac smiled sadly before twisting the gauge a few times, tightening the fabric around the bullet wound tighter than he could just with his hands. He tied it off, whispering another apology, before sitting back in the seat, exhausted. It had been such a long day and watching his friends in pain had not helped one bit.

"You okay, man?" Jack asked and Mac blinked his eyes open. He glanced over at Jack and nodded, it did nothing to ease the man's anxious expression. He was probably just worried about Bozer and Riley. They were the ones who needed Jack's worry, not him. He was fine.

"Yeah, is the bandage too tight?" Mac asked, his eyes flicking down to his mediocre first aid attempt. At least it looked like the bleeding had stopped.

"It's fine." Jack said, wiggling his leg a little as if to prove it before wincing deeply. "That was a bad idea."

"Don't ruin all my hard work." Mac joked as they pulled up to the field where their Exfil chopper was supposed to pick them up. They were a little early so the field was still empty.

"Wouldn't dream of it, hoss." Jack said, putting the van in park. "How's everyone doing back there?"

"For my first time getting shot, not so bad." Riley said lightheartedly. Jack frowned; he had been hoping she would never have to know how it felt to get hit by a bullet, even if it was only a graze. Hell, at least it was only a graze. It pretty much completely sucked that a bullet wound being just a graze was actually a good day in their line of work.

"You never forget your first." Jack said. "Bozer, you staying awake?"

"Unfortunately." Bozer said and Mac chuckled. Concussions sucked big time, there was no denying that.

"Do we have an ETA on when Exfil's arriving, bud?" Jack asked and Mac quickly checked his phone. The reception wasn't great in the van but maybe it would be better outside. It was getting hot in the van anyway; he could definitely use some fresh air.

"I'll be right back," Mac explained, holding up his phone. "I'll see if Matty can tell us how far out they are."

"Alright, man, as the only able bodied person left you're the boss right now." Jack said, knocking his fist lightly against Mac's arm.

"Then sit still and don't start bleeding again," Mac chided while opening his door. "If I'm the boss that means you have to listen to me."

"Whatever you say, dude." Jack said, pressing his free hand to his leg above the wound. Mac pulled himself out of the van and glanced at everyone quickly. They all seemed…as okay as they were going to be until Exfil got there. Now that there was nothing else he could do for them his adrenaline was starting to fade and he was beginning to feel sore all over. Maybe he hadn't needed to tackle Bozer so hard.

He walked around to the front of the van and sighed when the signal didn't get any better. He tried to call Matty but it wouldn't go through. It didn't matter; they knew Exfil was on its way.

Hopefully everyone would be okay until they got there, he thought while absentmindedly wiping the back of his hand across his clammy forehead.

Yeah, he really needed a vacation.

"Does Mac seem okay to you?" Riley asked as soon as Mac stepped out of the van. Jack glanced at her in the rear view mirror and frowned when he noticed her furrowed brow.

"It's hard being the only one uninjured on a mission, kiddo." Jack told her. Mac would have told him if he wasn't okay.

"Damn, I don't think he is uninjured." Bozer's startled voice made Jack's hair stand on end and his eyes flicked over to their friend who was leaning against the front of the van, staring intensely at his phone. It took him only a second to see what Bozer had. It was hard to tell in the darker van but now he could see the growing red stain on Mac's back, turning his leather jacket a horrible, dark crimson color.

"Damn it," Jack growled, fear twisting in his gut. Ignoring the spike of pain that shot through his thigh, he pushed his own door open and hobbled out of the front seat as fast as he could. He should have checked the kid better, what was he thinking? When was Mac ever lucky enough to come out of a mission unscathed when everyone else was hurt?

Mac flinched when he heard Jack's door open, the creak of the old metal frame loud in the quiet field.

"Jack, what's wrong? Is everyone okay?" He asked and Jack could see it now – the fine tremors in Mac's usually steady hands, the clammy paleness, and hooded eyes. All of the signs were there, how did he miss them?

"Everyone's not okay, bud, let me see." Jack said, limping slowly over to Mac's side. The kid's head tilted a little in confusion. Jack simply pulled Mac's jacket to the side and felt the blood rush from his own face when he saw the way too large blood patch covering the whole right side of Mac's shirt.

"Huh," Was all Mac said as he stared down at his own blood, his fingers brushing against his side and coming away painted red. He looked back up at Jack who was staring at him in horror as wobbled dangerously. "Didn't feel it till now."

Jack watched helplessly as Mac's face paled dramatically and he staggered forward, falling against Jack's chest as Jack caught the younger man under the arms, his hands wrapped around Mac's too-thin back.

One of his hands landed in something warm and wet and Jack lifted it slowly, eyes widening when his entire palm was glistening red.

Jack caught all of Mac's weight when the kid's legs seemed to disappear completely and his own gave out as well, sending them both to the ground. Jack made sure to land back so Mac would land on him and not the other way around. The kid fell sideways, his uninjured side pressed against Jack's body as Jack held him around the shoulders.

"Woah, hey," Jack exclaimed as Mac's head lay heavy against his chest. He could feel Mac's body shaking under his hands. "You're okay, hey, you're okay."

"Mac!" Riley cried out as she and Bozer made their way around the van and kneeled beside the pair. They both seemed to have forgotten their own injuries as they took in Mac's.

All Jack could do was hold onto the shaking blond as Riley reached forward and lifted Mac's jacket away from the wound. Bozer took over at that point and pulled Mac's shirt up and they all gasped. The wound was merely a small, round hole in his back but gaped significantly more in the front. He had been shot from behind, most likely when he tackled Bozer out of the way.

"He didn't tell me he was hit," Bozer said, horrified by the discovery. "He pushed me out of the way and said he was fine, I only complained about my stupid headache. I didn't even check to make sure."

"Adrenaline," Jack explained, kicking himself for not checking either. They all just assumed Mac was fine because he said he was, but the kid clearly hadn't been aware of his wound either. Bozer immediately took of his jacket and balled it up, placing it against the large exit wound in Mac's abdomen and pressing hard enough to send the poor kid jolting practically out of Jack's arms. Jack caught him easily and tucked him more comfortably with his back against Jack's chest.

Jack took over pressure on the stomach wound as Bozer tore a piece from the bottom of his shirt and reached under Mac to press it against the entrance wound.

Mac's eyes were wide as his face paled rapidly. His breathing was coming out in raspy gasps and he lifted his hand curiously, staring his own blood dripping off his fingers in shock. Riley caught the hand and pulled it to her chest, it took a second for his eyes to trail over to her face.

"Hey." He said and she tried to smile reassuringly.

"Hey," she answered back, her voice thick with fear.

"You, you shouldn't be moving. You're bleeding." Mac whispered, his eyes flicking from her face down to her side and then back again. Riley swallowed back a sob that was expanding in her chest and forced herself to laugh instead, she stared at his hemorrhaging side and shook her head. He never ceased to amaze her with how selfless he was.

"Don't worry about that right now, I'll be fine." She told him. He didn't look convinced but let it go when his body seized with pain and he pressed the back of his head against Jack's shoulder, as if he could disappear into the older man to escape the pain. Riley felt his hand spasm in hers and she clutched it tighter, wishing she could do something more.

"Hnnnn…" Mac groaned and Jack wrapped his arms around him tighter.

"Just breathe, bud, okay." Jack swallowed and stared down at Mac's trembling, bloody body. This shouldn't be happening, he was fine. But he wasn't, he never was. "You're gonna be alright, man, you hear me?"

"J-Jack?" Mac was staring at him, his face nearly translucent, but his eyes held so much pain and fear it knocked the breath out of Jack.

"I'm here, kid, we're gonna get you out of here." He tried to sound soothing but the kid was fading fast. If Exfil didn't get there soon…Jack didn't want to think about that, refused to even consider anything else.

"Hey Riley, what's the ETA on Exfil?" Jack asked, not taking his eyes off Mac's face. Riley reluctantly let go of Mac's hand and gritted her teeth as she rose to her feet. She felt her side pull as she limped to the side of the van and pulled her rig out of her bag in the backseat. It only took a few seconds after getting a message to Matty before the reply came through.

"They're five minutes out, Jack." Riley said, limping back to the trio on the ground. She could already hear the faint sound of the helicopter blades as they made their approach. "Matty had already sent the medical team, she said she had a feeling we were going to need it."

"That woman is a miracle worker." Bozer said.

"You hear that, homie?" Jack hated every pained whimper that made its way through Mac's usually ironclad defenses. "Help's on the way. Just stay with us, bud, keep your eyes open."

"Is it…cold?" Mac asked, his eyes fluttering and Jack hated the way the jacket pressed against the horrible wound squelched as the blood saturated through and coated his hands.

"No, bud, it's not. Just keep breathing, you'll be okay." Jack felt a tear slip out from the corner of his eye and roll down his cheek before falling into Mac's blond hair. Cold wasn't good at all.

"Oh," Mac frowned, his body shaking so hard he was practically vibrating in Jack's arms. "I think…I'm okay…doesn't hurt anymore…"

"That's good, Mac." Bozer said, his own heart shattering into a million little pieces. He had heard those words before. He never wanted to see something like this again, especially not his best friend, the closest thing he'd had to a brother after Josh died. "Just don't fall asleep, okay?"

"Ok-kay," Mac stuttered, he was staring at the treetops but it didn't look like he was seeing much of anything anymore.

"Where's that damn chopper, we needed them here ten minutes ago." Jack gritted out through clenched teeth. He was trying so hard to stay strong for his partner, as well as Riley and Bozer, who all clearly knew how serious this was, but it was getting harder by the second. He could physically feel Mac fading. No matter how hard he held on, the kid was slipping away.

"They're right above us," Riley said, clutching Mac's cold and clammy hand so tight she was afraid she might break something. She loosened her grip a little, not wanting to hurt him more, and let her fingers find the pulse point in his wrist. The beat was weak and rapid, jolting and stalling in strange bursts as his heart desperately tried to compensate for the massive blood loss. She would never know how he kept standing for so long, until he was almost literally at the brink of death, but of course she knew. He was more worried about them. That was always the answer. His brain was so deeply concerned with their wellbeing it didn't have room for anything else.

"Jack," Mac whispered and locked eyes with Jack when the older man looked back down from the helicopter to his rapidly weakening partner. "S-sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, man. I should have made sure you were okay. I'm damn sorry myself, bud." Jack reached one bloody hand and placed it on the side of Mac's cheek, tilting his head so they could see each other better.

"Lo-love you, gu-guys.." Mac stuttered as his eyes fluttered. They didn't close all the way but Jack saw the exact second when the intelligent blue eyes lost their vibrancy, and something important left them. Mac left them.

Nonononono…

"Mac," Jack shook the kid in his arms and Riley cried out when the pulse in his wrist faded to nothing. "Mac, no stay with me, kid, don't go!"

"Jack!" Riley sobbed, falling backwards as her hands covered her mouth. Tears blurred her vision and pained sobs escaped.

Bozer's hands slipped away from Mac's back, too. All he could do was stare at his best friend's body in shock.

Jack lowered the kid to the ground and pressed his fingers to Mac's neck. He willed Mac's still heart to beat but he felt nothing. He leaned his head down to Mac's greyish lips and felt nothing. He couldn't be gone, no, not Mac.

He tilted Mac's chin up and opened his mouth before covering the slack lips with his own. He breathed deeply into Mac's stagnant lungs twice before pulling himself over to the kid's unmoving chest. There was so much blood…too much…

He placed his hands over Mac's heart and put his whole body weight behind the compressions. The helicopter was nearly on the ground now but that didn't mean anything to Jack with Mac unresponsive and dead, no not dead, underneath him.

"Bozer, keep breathing for him." Jack instructed and Bozer nodded, shaking himself out of inaction and did as he was told. As he gave his best friend in the entire world his own breaths, he silently begged whatever was out there to let them save him. He watched in silent horror as Jack continued the compressions, Mac's whole body jerked each time, and his heart froze when they all heard a sickening crack.

"It's okay," Jack explained, breathing heavily from the exertion. Sweat was dripping down his own pale face, his eyes frozen as if he was stuck in his own personal nightmare. To be honest, they all were. "Breaking ribs means you're doing it right. Come on, bud, come on. I need you, kid."

Jack knew it was no use. He could do CPR all day and it wouldn't help Mac until he got more blood in his body to circulate. But he would never give up, never.

"Sir, step back, we've got him." A voice said. He shrugged off the hands on his shoulder and kept up the compressions. He couldn't stop, he couldn't. This was Mac…

"Jack," it was Riley's small voice that broke him out of his daze. He looked up at her, still pressing on Mac's too thin chest, and felt his face fall at her the broken expression on her face. "You have to let them help him, Jack, please."

Jack stopped immediately, backing way as the three medics who had arrived on the chopper began their desperate fight to save Mac's life. Riley crawled around the flurry of activity and practically fell into Jack's arms. Jack immediately tightened his hold on her as they watched with bated breath.

"Keep fighting, man; I know you're still in there." Jack whispered as they slid a needle into Mac's arm and began squeezing bags of blood to get it into the kid's depleted body faster. They cut open his shirt and stuck pads on his chest and a mechanical voice instructed them to continue doing CPR. Jack watched as the medic ran through the same routine Jack had just been doing, his arms shook with the need to be the one helping, but he knew he had to let the professionals handle it. They had a much better chance of success.

Riley pressed her face into Jack's chest as they slid a tube down Mac's throat and snapped a blue balloon to the end of it, squeezing it over and over again to keep Mac breathing.

It seemed to take forever but finally the voice told them to step back and deliver a shock to Mac's heart. The kid's body flinched as the electricity jolted through his chest and into his heart. After a few seconds the machine told them to do it again. It wasn't until the third time that something actually happened and the machine finally read a heartbeat.

"Got him!" One of the medics announced loudly and Jack nearly blacked out from pure relief. "Get him in on a backboard and let's move."

The process of getting Mac ready for transport was surprisingly smooth and then they were off, heading for the helicopter. Jack detangled himself from Riley and awkwardly stood, his own leg pinging with unchecked pain but he wasn't losing any more blood so he didn't care. He helped Riley to her feet and sighed when her hand came up to her wounded side. He helped Bozer up too before the trio limped their way to the helicopter. Luckily it was plenty big enough inside for everyone. As soon as Mac was locked in and everyone else was securely on board, they lifted off.

Jack couldn't take his eyes off Mac's slack face, his lips around the tube, and the hands squeezing air into the kid's lungs. At least his eyes were closed now, not frozen half open and vacant. That was something.

As they approached the roof of the hospital they had been brought to, the machines reading Mac's vitals began screaming again and Jack closed his eyes as the movement around his partner increased once more. As soon as the skids hit the ground, Mac was pulled out of the helicopter and raced into the building.

Doctors came up to them and the small group covered in Mac's blood let themselves be led inside. Jack felt numb through it all.

_Stay with us, Mac, please keep fighting…_

Jack willed the thought into the universe, hoping wherever Mac was he would hear it, and silently prayed that they wouldn't be losing the heart and soul of their family tonight.

Mac became aware of his surroundings slowly.

He heard the steady beating of a heart monitor somewhere by his head and felt the slight tickle of oxygen from a cannula under his nose and wrapped around his ears. He hurt all over and it felt like a heavy stone was sitting on his stomach and chest. It was incredibly uncomfortable but not necessarily painful.

His eyelids felt like they were made out of lead and it took more strength than it should have to open them. His vision was badly blurred as his eyes adjusted to the harsh, bright lights above him. He felt a hand in his and forced his head to turn until he found Jack smiling down at him. He was sitting in a chair wearing hospital scrubs, his arm and leg bandaged, and had dark bags under his eyes.

"Hey," Mac whispered. His throat was scratchy and sore but it was worth it when Jack's eyes softened. Mac hated it when Jack looked that worried.

"Hey yourself, dude, you gave us quite a scare this time." Jack said.

"Sorry," Mac started but stopped when Jack merely shook his head. "How are…you guys?"

"We're all fine, bud, you patched us up pretty well considering you were bleeding to death."

"I'm sorry, didn't know." Mac insisted, he could feel his eyes growing heavy as gravity seemed to increase; his heavy body and mind pulling him rapidly toward sleep. He didn't want to close his eyes; he didn't think he was going to wake up last time. "Glad you're…okay."

As his eyes drifted closed, he felt Jack's calloused fingers running through his hair soothingly. That was the final push and he quickly slipped back into healing sleep. Right before his mind shut off and he was gone, he heard Jack's quiet voice and let it guide him back under.

"Just rest now, bud, I'll be here when you wake up."

Mac felt his lips quirk into a small smile.

He knew he was safe, so he let himself rest.

The End.


End file.
